Ɔsɛnkafo 8
1 Hena na ɔte sɛ onyansafo? Hena na onim sɛnea nneɛma te? Nimdeɛ te nnipa anim, na ɛbrɛ ne denyɛ ase.
Who is like the wise man? Who knows the interpretation of a matter? A man’s wisdom brightens his face, and the sternness of his face is changed.
2 Mise: Di ɔhene mmaransɛm so, efisɛ wokaa ntam wɔ Onyankopɔn anim.
Keep the king’s command, I say, because of your oath before God.
3 Mpɛ ntɛm mfi ɔhene anim. Nnyina mu mma obi asɛm a ɛnyɛ dɛ na onii no anyɛ nea ɔpɛ biara.
Do not hasten to leave his presence, and do not persist in a bad cause, for he will do whatever he pleases.
4 Esiane sɛ ɔhene asɛm boro obiara de so nti, hena na obetumi aka akyerɛ no se: “Dɛn na woreyɛ yi?”
For the king’s word is supreme, and who can say to him, “What are you doing?”
5 Nea odi ne mmaransɛm so no renkɔ ɔhaw biara mu, na nyansa koma behu bere a ɛsɛ, ne ne kwan.
Whoever keeps his command will come to no harm, and a wise heart knows the right time and procedure.
6 Nneyɛe biara wɔ ne bere a ɛfata ne kwan a wɔfa so yɛ, nanso onipa haw hyɛ no so bebree.
For there is a right time and procedure to every purpose, though a man’s misery weighs heavily upon him.
7 Esiane sɛ obiara nnim daakye asɛm nti, hena na obetumi akyerɛ ɔfoforo nea ɛreba?
Since no one knows what will happen, who can tell him what is to come?
8 Obiara nni mframa so tumi na waboa ano; saa ara na obiara nni ne wuda so tumi. Sɛ wonnyaa obiara wɔ ɔko bere mu no, saa ara na amumɔyɛ rennyaa wɔn a wodi amumɔyɛsɛm no.
As no man has power over the wind to contain it, so no one has authority over his day of death. As no one can be discharged in wartime, so wickedness will not release those who practice it.
9 Mihuu eyinom nyinaa bere a medwenee nneɛma a wɔyɛ wɔ owia yi ase no ho. Bere bi wɔ hɔ a onipa hyɛ afoforo so ma ɛdan ɔhaw ma no.
All this I have seen, applying my mind to every deed that is done under the sun; there is a time when one man lords it over another to his own detriment.
10 Bio, mihuu sɛ wɔasie amumɔyɛfo, wɔn a anka wodi akɔneaba wɔ kronkronbea hɔ de gye nkamfo wɔ kuropɔn a wɔyɛɛ saa no mu. Eyi nso yɛ ahuhude.
Then too, I saw the burial of the wicked who used to go in and out of the holy place, and they were praised in the city where they had done so. This too is futile.
11 Sɛ bɔne bi ho asotwe amma ntɛm a, nnipa dwene nhyehyɛe a wɔde yɛ bɔne ho.
When the sentence for a crime is not speedily executed, the hearts of men become fully set on doing evil.
12 Ɛwɔ mu sɛ omumɔyɛfo bi yɛ bɔne mpɛn ɔha nanso ɔtena ase kyɛ, nanso minim sɛ ebesi wɔn a wosuro Onyankopɔn no yiye, wɔn a wodi Onyankopɔn ni no.
Although a sinner does evil a hundred times and still lives long, yet I also know that it will go well with those who fear God, who are reverent in His presence.
13 Nanso esiane sɛ amumɔyɛfo nsuro Onyankopɔn nti, ɛrensi wɔn yiye na wɔn nna renware sɛ sunsuma.
Yet because the wicked do not fear God, it will not go well with them, and their days will not lengthen like a shadow.
14 Ade bi nso a ɛyɛ ahuhude a esi wɔ asase so, ɛne sɛ, atreneefo bi nya akatua a ɛfata amumɔyɛfo, na amumɔyɛfo bi nya akatua a ɛfata atreneefo. Eyi nso, mise ɛyɛ ahuhude.
There is a futility that is done on the earth: There are righteous men who get what the actions of the wicked deserve, and there are wicked men who get what the actions of the righteous deserve. I say that this too is futile.
15 Enti mekamfo wiase mu anigye, efisɛ biribiara nni owia yi ase a eye ma onipa sen sɛ obedidi, anom ama nʼani agye. Na afei obenya anigye wɔ nʼadwumayɛ mu wɔ nna a Onyankopɔn ama no wɔ owia yi ase nyinaa.
So I commended the enjoyment of life, because there is nothing better for a man under the sun than to eat and drink and be merry. For this joy will accompany him in his labor during the days of his life that God gives him under the sun.
16 Bere a mepɛ sɛ mɛte nimdeɛ ase ne ɔbrɛ adwuma a onipa yɛ wɔ asase so a ɔnna awia anaa anadwo no,
When I applied my mind to know wisdom and to observe the task that one performs on the earth—though his eyes do not see sleep in the day or even in the night—
17 mihuu nea Onyankopɔn ayɛ nyinaa. Obiara rentumi nte nea ɛkɔ so wɔ owia yi ase no ase. Ne mmɔdemmɔ nyinaa akyi, onipa rentumi nhu nkyerɛase da. Sɛ mpo onyansafo bi ka se onim a, ɔrentumi nte ase yiye da.
I saw every work of God, and that a man is unable to comprehend the work that is done under the sun. Despite his efforts to search it out, he cannot find its meaning; even if the wise man claims to know, he is unable to comprehend.
